EXPECTANT mothers who work up to their due date are more likely to have babies with a lower birth weight – creating risks for the future.

EXPECTANT mothers who work up to their due date are more likely to have babies with a lower birth weight – creating risks for the future.

Women who worked after they were eight months’ pregnant had babies on average half a pound lighter than those who stopped between six and eight months, a study has found.

The research, which drew on data from two studies in the UK and one in the US, found the effect on weight of continuing your job during the late stages of pregnancy was equal to that of smoking while pregnant.

Babies whose mothers worked or smoked throughout pregnancy grew more slowly in the womb.

Past research has shown babies with low birth weights are at higher risk of poor health and slow development and may suffer from multiple problems later in life.

Stopping your job early in pregnancy was particularly beneficial for women with lower levels of education, the study found – suggesting the effect of working during pregnancy was possibly more marked for those doing physically demanding jobs.

The birth weight of babies born to mothers under the age of 24 was not affected by them continuing to work but in older mothers the effect was more significant.

One of the authors of the study, University of Essex’s Professor Marco Francesconi, says the Government should consider incentives for employers to offer more flexible maternity leave to women who might need a break before, rather than after, their babies are born.

He said: “We know low birth weight is a predictor of many things that happen later, including lower chances of completing school successfully, lower wages and higher mortality.

“We need to think seriously about parental leave because the possible benefits of taking leave flexibly before the birth could be quite high.”